A private conservation trust in Namibia plans to acquire aerial drones to aid in the fight against rhino and elephant poaching in remote areas, according to media reports monitored here Saturday.Next Generation Conservation Trust founder Henri Slabbert said his organisation planned to spend N$5 million (about US$435,000) on procuring “aerial technology from various parts of the globe to assemble and test drones in northern Namibia for rhino and elephant protection.

“High end technology must be deployed to stop poaching in Namibia. An eye in the sky, so to say, will be very effective,” Slabbert told the South African Press Agency.

He said the funds would be used to assemble 14 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones adapted to Namibia’s conditions.

Each UAV will have a six-metre wingspan and will cover 20 000km².

About 24 rhino and 79 elephants were poached in Namibia in 2014, a significant increase after two decades largely free from poaching.

Namibia is the home of free-roaming black rhino and the world’s only free-roaming desert adapted elephants and world famous desert lions.